Less than a fortnight ago, literally as Australians were going to the ballot box, 160 nations of the world were meeting in Marrakech, agreeing on the rules for the Kyoto Protocol climate change treaty. Greenpeace attended the meeting too and described the end result as a "hard-won battle for a token outcome".
Nevertheless Kyoto is an essential step in the right direction for one compelling reason - the most up-to-date report from the United Nations climate scientists this year concluded global warming has already begun and we - that is, human beings - are causing it.
While many people in the business world, along with Bjorn Lomborg, disagree with Greenpeace on the value of the Kyoto Protocol as a response, the point is this:
We must act sooner rather than later… the projected impacts are serious and the LONGER we wait to tackle climate change, the MORE it will cost in jobs and infrastructure changes when we finally take action.